The Musmate Walking Aid for Foot Drop and Hip Flexion

The Musmate Walking Aid for Foot Drop and Hip Flexion was developed by people with multiple sclerosis to help them
to walk. People who have had a stroke also find it beneficial. It helps with the
dropping of your foot, assists the bending of your knee and can make swinging your
leg forward easier. It is available in a range of sizes and colours and has a 30-day free
trial to ensure it is right for you!

Right Leg

Features

People with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis or following a stroke,
often find that walking becomes progressively
more difficult as the disease progresses. What starts out as foot drop, when the
foot flops down as you lift your leg, gradually develops into a whole-leg problem.
Eventually you have problems with your ankle, knee, and hip and walking is very difficult.

Current products such as AFOs help with the ankle flopping, but when the weakness spreads
up the leg, they offer only partial support. This is the time for you to consider the
Musmate, which has been designed for such difficult walking. It uses a shoulder harness
and an elastic cord connected to the shoe. When walking, the thigh muscles
push down on the elastic cord to stretch it and it in turn gently supports the raising of
your foot and leg.

This lifting action also has the benefit of gently bending the knee - knee flexion
to the professionals. This is because the lifting action is not in line with the leg
and so creates pressure on the knee to move. A similar approach is often used by
physiotherapists when teaching people how to walk again following a stroke or
brain injury. They often use a bandage or similar to pull the leg up and thus
cause the knee to bend.

Benefits

Most importantly this lifting action takes some of the weight onto the shoulder
which reduces the effort the hip needs to make to swing the leg forward- which is
called hip flexion by specialists. The Musmate Walking Aid for Foot Drop and Hip Flexion's ability to assist hip flexion is
important in maintaining your ability to walk because without this swing forward,
it can become very difficult for you to walk.

The Musmate Walking Aid for Foot Drop and Hip Flexion has two additional adjustments to improve your mobility further.
Firstly the amount of support the Musmate provides is adjustable.
As you need more support, it can easily be increased. Secondly, the height to which
your foot is lifted is also controlled. It is quick and easy to adjust the Musmate
to lift your foot higher, which means you can cross rough ground or even go up stairs.

Since the foot has regained its normal action, Walking is made easier. Secondly,
there is less risk of trips or falls because the foot is not dragging. The result is
that people walk more than they used to. This creates a positive circle
whereby increasing mobility leads to greater fitness which in turn reduces
the effort required to walk. People can work more, and improve their
social lives.

Both Legs

The Components of the Musmate Walking Aid for Foot Drop and Hip Flexion

The Musmate Walking Aid for Foot Drop uses the shoulder to support your weak leg(s).
This is ideal because the back muscles are genrally strong and can support the
additional weight. It works best when your back is kept straight and so it encourages good
posture- many people with foot drop walk with a bent back because they
are used to watching their feet for signs of tripping.
The versions for the left and right are mirror images and there is an
optional waist
belt which does stop the shoulder harness from flopping forward if the
waist is bent. The shoulder harness for both legs can be used for one leg
but only if the waist belts are used. This can help spread the weight over both
shoulders for peope who find their feet very heavy or who have shoulder
weakness from injuries or illness. However the different shoulder harnesses can affect the
person's balance in different ways.

The shoulder harness for the left leg

The shoulder harness for the right leg

The shoulder harness connects to the elastic cord by means of a strap whose
length is adjustable. This enables the user to control the height of their
foot lift which enables them to go uphill or downhill more easily, and cope
with kerbs and obstacles in the street. They can even climb stairs.

The shoulder harness is available in a range of colours and sizes to fit
most people. We can also make this in different widths to make it more
discreet or to better spread the weight.

The length of the harness is easily adjusted using the triglide adjusters. This should only need to be done once.
The length of the hanging strap in combination with the
length of the elastic assembly combines to yield the level of
support and height of foot lift.
This is used frequently to vary the
support, such as when tired or the ground is more uneven and a higher lift
is preferred.

The Waist Belt

The waist belt is fully detachable if desired and its length is easily adjusted.
We modified the waist belt for one lady who had difficulty with the clip attachment.
The modified version is shown where the belt is threaded through one end of the
clip which holds it in place. The lady could thread the belt through the clip to
put it on and take it off, and the
clip could still be used by her carers as before.

The Musmate Orthosis for Foot Drop uses the shoulder as the base of the system.
This enables it to support the movement of the whole leg. It does work best
when your back is straight and so it encourages good posture.

There are optional waist half-belts at the front and rear which stop the
shoulder harness from flopping forward if the waist is bent. They also stop the shoulder harness
from swinging round and can be used to ensure that the elastic assembly is
fixed in one point.
The shoulder harness for both legs can be used for one leg
if the waist belts are used. This can help spread the weight over both
shoulders for peope who find their feet very heavy or who have shoulder
weakness from injuries or illness.

Front View

Side View

Back View

There is an adjustable strap between the shoulder harness and the elastic connector.
Adjusting this strap enables thewearer to control how high they lift their foot when
walking. This means they can easily adjust their walking to cope with going
uphill or downhill more easily, and go over kerbs and obstacles in the street with ease.
They can even climb stairs.

The shoulder harness is available in a range of colours and sizes to fit
most people. We can also make this in different widths to make it more
discreet or to better spread the weight.

The length of the harness is easily adjusted using the plastic adjusters on the front.
This should only need to be done once.
The length of the hanging strap in combination with the
length of the elastic assembly combines to yield the level of
support and height of foot lift.
This is used frequently to vary the
support, such as when you are tired or the ground is more uneven and a higher lift
is preferred.

The key component is the elastic assembly. This runs down the length of the leg.
The tension in this is the key to lifting your leg as you walk, and this is controlled
by the nylon peg. This can be easily adjusted as required to provide the necessary support.
The elastic assembly is available in all-black and all-white, as well as with a metal hook.
The metal hook has several advantages. Firstly, it prevents the triangle from slipping
out which can happen with the plastic hook. Secondly, people with poor fine-motor skills
find this hook easier to use. Finally, with the slider control on the side, there is an extra 10mm (half-inch)
length which means some people find it easier to connect because they do not have to reach quite as far.
The disadvantage is the shiny metal appearance. a thinner cord can be supplied if required.

Two Black Hooks

1 Black + 1 Metal Hook

All in White

Since the elastic assembly is located slightly to the rear of the user, then the
pull of the elastic is not in line with the knee and so it acts like a lever and
encourages the knee to bend. The other valuable aspect of the
Musmate is that during the swing phase, the elastic can be under tension which
means it is carrying some of the weight of the leg. This results in an easier
swing through as the wearer steps forward.
Physiotherapists have reported it can be useful in cases of distal and proximal
weakness in motor neurone disease (MND) patients

The elastic assembly is connected to the shoe in one of two ways. The first is
a shoe harness which wraps around the shoe; the second is a shoelace connector
which fits around shoelaces or sandal straps.

The first attachment on the Musmate Orthosis is the shoe harness.
This goes around the back and
underneath the shoe to form a robust device for lifting the foot.
This comes in three sizes. There is a small one for children and ladies with
small feet, a middle size one for ladies, and a larger one for men.
In addition, this does come in left and right-hand versions, and is
available in black, brown, and white.

There are advantages in putting the attachment on the outside of the shoe.
Firstly, it fits most shoes. Secondly, it avoids the situation where people
have to buy two different sizes of shoe to accommodate a shoe insert, such as an
AFO. Finally it does leave the heel free to move, thus eliminating any concern
about disuse atrophy.

The elasticated assembly on the Musmate Orthosis can be fitted to the shoe with a shoelace
connector. This goes around the shoelaces, straps, or hook & loop fastenings.
It has a triangle with which to connect to the elasticated assembly.
It is available in one size only, but a custom version can be produced
if required. These are available in many different colours, although the plastic fittings
are only in black.

Remember to check the straps and laces regularly for wear and tear and replace
them so that they do not break whilst the Musmate is in use.

Shoelace Connector on Sandals

Shoelace Connector on Shoes

Shoelace Connector on Trainers

The Shoulder Pad
The shoulder pad reduces the impact of the additional load on the
shoulder by cushioning it. It is fully detachable so it can be
used as required. It should be required less and less as the
shoulder muscles develop in response to the additional work.